ICANN, the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, has been opening the playing field recently, allowing for more top-level domain names. The days of the simple .com, .net. info and the rest are becoming a thing of the past. Replacing, well complimenting, then is a whole new breed that opens the floodgates to your wildest imagination.

At the forefront of this new wave is GoDaddy who today announced “today begins a new chapter in the expansion of the Internet, with the introduction of new Internet domain names. GoDaddy, the world’s largest domain name registrar, is the first registrar to sell pre-registrations on the new, ICANN-approved domain name extensions, as part of a new program designed to expand the inventory of Internet website addresses”.

What’s included in this big update? According to the company, customers can now get ” .UNO, .MENU, .BUILD and .LUXURY, and more than 700 additional domain names are expected to launch over the next 24 months”.

There are some things to be considered before jumping feet first into this fire — “Each of the new domain extensions launching today for pre-registration have unique attributes. .UNO is a place online dedicated to Spanish speakers. .MENU gives restaurants a relevant name for their businesses. Contractors, designers, builders and more can use .BUILD. Those looking to appeal to a more affluent clientele, .LUXURY is available”.

Prices and exact rollout plans were not announced as part of this news,

GoDaddy is continuing their newly found focus of small-to-medium businesses (SMB) by acquiring domain marketplace Afternic, domain parking service SmartName and name generator NameFind from NameMedia. Terms for all deals were not disclosed.

Afternic – a Boston Massachusetts-based company – is the leading domain aftermarket companies. Afternic lists more than 5 million domains and has 75 million searches a month.

NameFind is a new service that helps entrepreneurs brain-storm brand names for businesses. SmartName brings a level of domain monetizations services so SMBs can earn money from domain names without having to build websites.

“Having the right domain name is vital, no matter your venture,” said GoDaddy CEO Blake Irving. “GoDaddy is working to bring the ‘domain aftermarket’ together with new registrations and make both super-simple to access. Our customers need an easy way to buy the name they want, regardless of whether it’s new or has been registered previously. This acquisition forms a registrar-led process that creates faster and more trusted transactions across the board.”

All three companies will continue to run in their respected areas at this time.

Today I got an email from current CEO Blake Irving, regarding the changes at Godaddy.com. Being a loyal customer of the service for over 7 years now, this new direction looks to be very serious and even more attractive for people trying to start a website.

Today, GoDaddy’s front page got a revamp. Gone is Danika Patrick and those provocative GoDaddy commercials you saw during the Superbowl, World Series, NBA finals and other events. Who replaced her?

Jean Claude Van Damme?

This is part of GoDaddy’s new era – “It’s go time“. A great marketing slogan that can point to GoDaddy and their new direction.

In the email, Irving wrote:

“Today, GoDaddy is the world’s largest web host and domain provider — and sites registered or hosted with us make up a massive portion of what we know as the Internet today. That statement, however, says little about who you are, our customers, or how we can serve you best. So earlier this year we embarked on an effort to learn more about you, what makes you so incredibly unique, and the values you all have in common. In the process, we learned an equal amount about ourselves, and we’re making changes to reflect that new clarity. ”

Irving goes on to say they want to know more about you and how to make you succeed. They started by streamlining the website – making things easier and “more intuitive”. GoDaddy also highlighted their Award winning customer support (awards from CareerBuilder’s Top Companies to Work for Award, to Fortune 100 “Best Companies to Work For”).

Other Changes at Godaddy.com

GoDaddy is bringing on new Top Level Domains, such as .app, .web and more (over 700 new gTLD from ICANN).

They started a new video ad campain using Jean Claude Van Damme to show how serious – yet still jockular – they can be. The first video includes a baker who not only gets new orders through his GoDaddy website, but a full solo from Van Damme who motivates while telling him “It’s Go Time”.

Out With the Old, In With the New

Founder and previous CEO Bob Parsons brought a lot of controversy, not only on GoDaddy for viral content, but also on his personal life. He left when GoDaddy was purchased in 2011. Interim CEO Warren Adelman made some changes, but it was not the direction the board was looking for. It took two years to bring Blake Irving on as CEO (former EVP at Yahoo! and VP of Windows Live Platform at Microsoft). Irving’s approach is for Small Business owners (SMB).

In an interview he did earlier this year, he talked about how he has a full open door policy. He talks about how he walks around campus in jeans and t-shirts, talking to people and finding out what matters to them.

Irving’s Direction is no Joke, though…

Irving states: “This is the radical shift we knew we had to make and it’s more than just marketing. A brand is a promise to our customers and a commitment to understand their needs. Our mission is to ‘fight the good fight for the go getter’ … the small business owner … or anyone who labors for the love of it and wants the benefits of the latest technology without having to be an expert.”

With a new look and a different direction, GoDaddy seems to be focusing less on viral content and more on the SMBs they need to appease. From Domains to hosting, SSL certificates and more.

Congratulations to Danica Patrick for winning the Poll position at the Daytona 500! History has been made with Danica being the first woman to claim a Spring poll position. Danica driving the GoDaddy #10 car.. GoDaddy long time Sponsor of Danica Patrick is offering up a 28% off code on almost all purchases and renewals.

I have a great discount promotion with GoDaddy for May. In fact we have two great deals but one will end on May 31st and the other will not expire.

I have a huge list of Godaddy deals that never expire on my GoDaddy Promo Codes Page. Every time you share my codes, or utilize them, you are directly supporting this site and the great content the team produces here each month.

GoDaddy Super Bowl ads run later today. The team at GoDaddy have shared some awesome hosting and .com domain specials for the game! This is the best pricing and discounts I have ever seen on these products to date.

We have been running some very hot GoDaddy deals here at Geek News Central over the past couple of months. As you know GoDaddy has been a long time sponsor of Geek News Central. Every Super Bowl GoDaddy turns up the heat with their GoDaddy ads. We are going to have an amazing GoDaddy offer to celebrate Super Bowl 46.

This year no wardrobe malfunctions because there is no wardrobe, so if you want a sneak peak at what the GoDaddy has planned for the Super Bowl check out this behind the scenes videoa hinting at the ad spots that will run during the game.

Plus I will have some amazing deals here as well that will kickoff on Feb 1st! For now check all our great deals at geeknewscentral.com/godaddy

I share with you at the end of today’s show the interview I had on Friday with GoDaddy’s CEO after they reversed their SOPA stance. The info is a bit different than what is being portrayed on other site. Our CES coverage will be ramping up now and I hope that you will contribute to our support staff fund.. Your help is needed.

This morning having saw the press release of GoDaddy reversing their decision on supporting SOPA, I wanted to get more information on their decision. Press Releases can be pretty generic, and I wanted to get a voice behind the decision. Warren Adelman GoDaddy CEO Takes about 10 minutes with me to talk about their position. If you have comments on the commentary, please feel free to email [email protected]

Disclaimer: GoDaddy has been a sponsor of my podcast now for 6 years. Note: I have been a strident opponent of SOPA as my audience well knows. I addressed this last night in my show before the reversal announcement came out. I have found GoDaddy to be very responsive to my listeners when they have issues with their GoDaddy services and still feel that way.